Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the government of Bahrain to hold talks with the opposition in Bahrain on human rights in that country; and what representations he has received on the arrest and trials of Ali Salman and Ebrahim Sharif.

We continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to make progrerss with an open and inclusive national dialogue. We continue to monitor the cases of Ali Salman and Ebrahim Sharif as well as actions taken against other opposition activists. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my righthon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised human rights with his Bahraini counterpart, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmad al Khalifa at their last meeting on 13 October. We also continue to raise these cases with the Government of Bahrain, at all levels, and call for them to ensure due process is followed.